How To Make A Men’s Leather Wallet

If you like minimal wallets, you are going to love making your minimalist leather wallet. The minimalist trend is a great addition to the many trends in the men’s fashion. Choosing to go for minimalist wallets can help reduce pocket bulge from overstuffed wallets and is light to carry.

If you are up for some DIY activity, here’s a guide on how you can create a good leather wallet for yourself. This is also a great activity for you to do if you want to make a memorable gift for someone. In this article, you will learn the basics of leatherworking.

This guide covers several essential steps that you need to take in order to make a leather wallet. Once you have mastered it, you can easily go into more advanced projects to create better leather wallets! You can start off with a small amount of leather to get started.

These leather will cost $10 for every square foot as long as they are common leather types.

Draft a template

Unless you have prior experience of making leather wallet instantaneously, you need to come up with a template for your leather wallet. If you can design, use programs such as Adobe Illustrator to come up with your template. Then, you can test out your prototype using cardstock or fabric. If you are unsure about how to come up with the design, many Youtube videos can help you to come up with a solid design.

Cut the leather

The first step to making the men’s wallet is to cut out the leather. Use any small craft knives to make cut out your leather. For the leather where you have to curve it, use the template to ensure that you will have a cleaner curve in your cutting. It will also keep a uniform look throughout your leather cutting.

To bend any parts with water, slightly wet the leather section with a cloth. This will help with the bending process. Then, proceed to cut the leather for the pockets for your wallet. You can cut it using the same template for the curve you used earlier. After doing so, make sure to test out how it fits into the overall piece.

Conditioning is key

An important step in this process is to ensure that you invest some time into conditioning the leather you are using thoroughly. When you first start doing the leather, it can be quite stiff. Applying oil on it makes the process of cutting the leather much easier. For a cleaner look, make sure that you don’t forget to trim any of the leather edges. Using a sharp trimmer makes this process much easier because you can glide it across the leather in one go.

Lay out the angle

It is essential for you to lay out the top flap and see which angle is best for it. You can then proceed to cut the leather according to the angles by using a cutter. You can also freehand around the corners. You don’t necessarily have to be too precise with these corners because you will still trim and sand them down for the last step.

Start the burnishing process

Burnishing is essential for you to fine-tune your leather wallet. When you begin with the burnishing process, you need to invest some time into doing this so that you will obtain a higher quality result. While using water to burnish will work as well, this guide will provide you with more options on how you can burnish better.

Sanding is a great way for you to burnish your edges. Once that is done, apply water on the sanded edges. Next, apply glycerin on the edges to give it a glossy look. Keep in mind that the thinner the leather you use, the harder it is to burnish it.

Therefore, be mindful of your selection of leather. You may end up squishing the leather inward but burnishing it using glycerin reduces potential friction. Then, apply gum tragacanth. This functions to help the leather stick better together. The last step in this burnishing process is to apply beeswax on all edges. Beeswax is useful to waterproof the edges of the leather, hence making it last longer.

Put the pieces together

To start off this process, put together the contact cement with the edges. This will help make the sewing process a lot easier. Remember that if you don’t glue the edges, some of the burnished edges can easily fall out because stitching alone cannot keep the edges together.

Apply the glue and don’t put too much of it. Just ensure that the edges of the leather are well glued. Leather easily absorbs the first coat of glue. Therefore, place several light coats after the first.

Fine tune the edges

Once everything is joined, use a sharp knife and start the scraping process. This process will give you a straight edge. To avoid spending too much time on this process, make sure that you glue the pieces well.

Start saddle stitching

The saddle stitching process begins by using two different needles to thread to different sides. This process must be done only using one piece of thread. This method of stitching makes the finish of the wallet much stronger. In the case where one thread gets pulled out, the other thread will remain intact. Handmade leather stitching also typically gives sturdy results as compared to the stitches done using a machine.

Apply oil

The last step to this DIY guide is for you to apply oil on your leather. It is always essential for anyone to condition their leather because it provides it with more water resistance. Once you’ve done that, you can also continue burnishing the edges of this leather wallet until you are satisfied with the finish. Lastly, apply a last coat of oil to enhance the conditioning process on this leather.

You are finished!

Once all of the oil coating dries, the leather will lighten up a lot more. Make sure to keep your stitching as neat as possible to have a sleek looking men’s leather wallet.

Minimalist wallets are growing in popularity as people move away from a old fashioned, traditional lifestyle to a more busy and vibrant 21st century way of living. These wallets don’t feel bulky in your pocket, […]

If you like minimal wallets, you are going to love making your minimalist leather wallet. The minimalist trend is a great addition to the many trends in the men’s fashion. Choosing to go for minimalist […]